00:00The sound of gunfire cuts through the air at this shooting range in Luban in western Poland.
00:06For Piotr Sawicki, a 41-year-old Polish citizen who works as an operations manager in England,
00:12this is not a military drill. It's civilian training.
00:16On day two of a three-day course, he's firing an AR-15 rifle with live ammunition for the first
00:22time in his life.
00:23Around him, 14 other trainees move in sync under the strict supervision and watchful eyes of their trainers at the
00:30BZ Academy.
00:32Because of all the safety trainings I had in here, it was good.
00:37It was very not expected from the recoil system and how loud it is,
00:43but because I knew what to do with the gun, it was a lot easier to accommodate myself to that.
00:49Just with what's happening in the world at the moment, there's a lot of uncertainty with wars and etc.
00:58So knowing how to operate real guns safely, it's something that I think everyone should know.
01:08In Poland, more and more civilians are completing the process required to obtain a firearms license and legally own a
01:15gun.
01:15Training courses like this are often the first step in that process.
01:19The number of permits has risen sharply in recent years.
01:23According to official police data, around 50,000 new permits were issued in Poland in 2025 alone, up from around
01:3020,000 in 2021.
01:33The total number of firearms licenses has now surpassed 400,000.
01:37In addition, the number of registered firearms has passed the one million mark for the first time.
01:43This rise began after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which has driven interest in shooting ranges across
01:51Poland.
01:52We are afraid of the destabilization of the current situation, that the world becomes more hostile, even here in Central
02:04Europe.
02:05So it has an impact on some part of the society.
02:11Bartosz Zhukovsky, who has been running a firearms training academy in Luban since 2016, trains both civilians and law enforcement
02:18officers.
02:19He says that over the past two years, more people have been coming to the academy with a similar motivation,
02:25namely to learn how to use a weapon in case the need arises, because they feel that times are increasingly
02:31uncertain.
02:31We noticed definitely after the conflict started, because everybody started being a little bit concerned about what's going on,
02:39especially that it's just behind the corner, let's say.
02:42It's happening in our neighbors.
02:44So people were more concerned about their safety, and we noticed an increase of signing up for variety courses,
02:51but mainly firearms courses, that people wanted to learn just basic skills, how to use and operate weapons safety in
02:59case if they will have to use it.
03:01Nevertheless, political analyst Martian Duma says not everyone wants to own a gun.
03:08But if we look to the numbers, how many people who are declaring they would like to have a gun
03:14in their household, this is a minority.
03:18Most of the people, they declare that they don't want to have a weapon or any kind, especially firearms in
03:25their house.
03:25But for others, the growing uncertainty is making them think differently.
03:32Yeah, I think it's important to ensure that you know your ways around firearms, because what is happening in Ukraine
03:42at the moment, what is happening in Iran, because you never know when that can escalate.
03:49Sovitsky does not see himself joining the armed forces, but he plans to continue training and to apply for a
03:55firearms license in the future.
03:56For him, it's not about becoming a soldier, but about being prepared in an uncertain world.
04:02Let's go down to consider this point.
04:04This is not about becoming a soldier.
04:08I mean, it's not about being prepared.
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